Display apparatus frame having sliding cover sliding along direction not parallel to display surface of display apparatus

ABSTRACT

A displaying apparatus frame used for covering an exterior of a display apparatus. The displaying apparatus frame has a main frame and a sliding cover. The main frame has an opening corresponding to a display surface of the display apparatus. The sliding cover is connected to the main frame in a sliding way, and the sliding cover slides along a direction that is not parallel to the display surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a displaying apparatus frame, and moreparticularly, to a frame having a sliding holder that slides along adirection that is not parallel to a display surface of a displayapparatus.

2. Description of the Prior Art

With advancements in technology and higher living standards, myriadintelligent information products have been engineered in various fields.In the automobile electronic product arena, global positioning systems(GPS) have recently been considered essential devices for vehicles,allowing drivers to enjoy the convenience brought by GPS navigation.

If intense sunlight or external light is shone onto the display screenof the GPS navigation device in use, however, the resulting glare makesit difficult to see the information demonstrated on the display screenclearly, rendering the device less usable. Thus, it becomes important toconsider how to design a display screen such that the information on thedisplay screen can be seen clearly in an environment with intensesunlight or external light sources.

Common GPS navigation devices for vehicles or electronic products thatare on the market today and feature their own display screens typicallyare not equipped with screen hoods. Users therefore must installadditional hoods or utilize display technology to avoid the mentionedglare and the difficulty in realizing information demonstrated on thedisplay screen. Additional screen hoods are not convenient and sometimesnot feasible due to physical space limitations or other reasons anddisplay screens with display technology capable of preventing glaresuffer from high production costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore one of the objectives of the present invention toprovide a displaying apparatus frame used for covering an exterior of adisplay apparatus to solve the above problem. According to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, the displaying apparatus framecomprises a main frame and a sliding cover. The main frame has anopening corresponding to a display surface of the display apparatus. Thesliding cover is connected to the main frame in a sliding way, andslides along a direction that is not parallel to the display surface.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt becomeobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment that isillustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a displaying apparatus framewhose sliding cover is in a closed position according to a firstembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the displaying apparatus frameshown in FIG. 1 whose sliding cover is not in a closed position.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a displaying apparatus frameaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a displaying apparatus frameaccording to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a displaying apparatus framewhose first and second sliding covers are both in closed positionaccording to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the displaying apparatus frameshown in FIG. 5 whose first and second sliding covers are not in closedposition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain terms are used throughout the description and following claimsto refer to particular components. As one skilled in the art willappreciate, manufacturers may refer to a component by different names.This document does not intend to distinguish between components thatdiffer in name but not function. In the following description and in theclaims, the terms “include” and “comprise” are used in an open-endedfashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “include, but notlimited to . . . ”.

Different features of the present invention are detailed as below withreference to the figures, and for convenience of explanation, the sameelements in separate figures are indicated by the same referencenumerals.

Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating adisplaying apparatus frame 100 according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the displaying apparatus frame100 is used for covering an exterior of a display apparatus 10, andincludes a main frame 110 and a sliding cover 120. The main frame 110has an opening 112 corresponding to a display surface 12 of the displayapparatus 10. The sliding cover 120 is connected to the main frame 110in a sliding way, and slides along a direction that is not parallel tothe display surface 12. This is for illustrative purposes only and isnot meant as a limitation of the present invention. In practice, thedisplay apparatus 10 can be the display screen of any electronicapparatus such as a GPS navigation device, a digital camera, a personaldata assistant, and so on.

In general, the sliding cover 120 is in a closed position when glare isnot induced by external light. In this scenario, as shown in FIG. 1, thesliding cover 120 is retracted (or “collapsed”) onto the sides of themain frame 110. However, when external light is too intense and inducesglare on a display screen of an electronic apparatus, the sliding cover120 can be expanded from the closed position in order to decreaseinterference with the display screen from external light sources. FIG. 2is a perspective view illustrating the displaying apparatus frame 100shown in FIG. 1 whose sliding cover 120 is not in the closed position.As shown in FIG. 2, the sliding cover 120 protrudes from the surface ofthe main frame to block external light from inducing glare and, in thisway, can prevent the user from having difficulty in seeing theinformation displayed on the screen.

In this embodiment of the displaying apparatus frame 100, please notethat the sliding cover 120 is positioned outside the main frame 110 andhas a reverse U-shape that does not completely surround the perimeter ofthe display apparatus frame. This example is for illustrative purposesonly, however, and is not meant to be a limitation of the presentinvention. By way of example, the sliding cover 120 also can bepositioned inside the main frame 110, such as a sliding cover 152 of adisplaying apparatus frame 150 is shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is aperspective view illustrating the displaying apparatus frame 150according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Furthermore,the sliding cover 120 can be a sliding cover which surrounds all sidesof the display apparatus as a sliding cover 162 of a displayingapparatus frame 160 shown in FIG. 4, which is a perspective diagramillustrating the displaying apparatus frame 160 according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiments, each of the displayingapparatus frames 100, 150 and 160 has only one sliding cover; however,the number of the sliding covers is not meant to be a limitation of thepresent invention. In another words, each of the displaying apparatusframes 100, 150 and 160 also can be built with a plurality of slidingcovers. Please refer to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a perspective diagramillustrating a displaying apparatus frame 300 according to a fourthembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the displayingapparatus frame 300 includes a main frame 110, a first sliding cover320, and a second sliding cover 330. The first sliding cover 320 isconnected to the main frame 110 in a sliding manner, and the secondsliding cover 330 is also connected to the first sliding cover 320 in asliding manner. Furthermore, in this embodiment, both the first andsecond sliding covers 320 and 330 slide along the direction that isperpendicular to the display surface 112.

In general, the first sliding cover 320 and the second sliding cover 330are in a first closed position and a second closed position when glareis not induced by external light. The definition of the first closedposition in the present invention is the position where the firstsliding cover 320 is completely retracted or collapsed onto the mainframe 110, and likewise, the definition of the second closed position ofthe present invention is where the second sliding cover 330 iscompletely retracted or collapsed onto the first sliding cover 320. Atthe present circumstance, as shown in FIG. 3, the first sliding cover320 and the second sliding cover 330 both are put away or collapsed ontothe sides of the main frame 110 together, where the first sliding cover320 is flush with the main frame 110, and the second sliding cover 330is flush with the surface of the first sliding cover 320. However, whenexternal light is too intense and induces undesired glare on a displayscreen of an electronic apparatus, the glare problem can be solved byutilizing the first sliding cover 320 and/or the second sliding cover330. For example, please refer to FIG. 6 which is a perspective viewillustrating the displaying apparatus frame 300 shown in FIG. 5 whosefirst and second sliding covers 320 and 330 are not in the closedposition. As shown in FIG. 6, the first sliding cover 320 is not in thefirst closed position, and the second sliding cover 330 is not in thesecond closed position. In this diagram, the first sliding cover 320 isprotruding from the surface of the main frame 110 having the opening112, and the second sliding cover 330 is protruding over the firstsliding cover 320 to block external light from inducing glare. Pleasenote that the displaying apparatus frame 300 of the present inventioncan still achieve the same objective of blocking external light frominducing undesired glare even if only one of the first and secondsliding covers 320 and 330 are expanded from their respective closedposition (i.e., the first sliding cover 320 is expanded while the secondsliding cover 330 is collapsed, or vice versa).

Please note that the display apparatus 10 in the above-mentionedembodiment can be a display screen of a GPS navigation device; however,the displaying apparatus frame of the present invention in practice canbe applied to any electronic apparatus having a display screen.

With regard to the method of affixing or combining the main frame to thesliding cover, taking the displaying apparatus frame 100 according tothe first embodiment of the present invention for example, the mainframe 110 and the sliding cover 120 are attached through the inherentelastic force of plastic materials. In addition, three sides of the mainframe 110 connected with the sliding cover 120 have channels to guidethe sliding cover 120 over on the main frame 110 along a direction thatis perpendicular to the display surface 12. Furthermore, two sides ofthe main frame 110 in contact with the sliding cover 120 further haveprotruding points (or pits), and there are counterpart pits (orprotruding points) at corresponding positions on the sliding cover 120for positioning purposes. It is well known to those of ordinary skill inthe art that there are various methods for affixing or combining themain frame 110 with sliding cover 120, therefore additional details areomitted for the sake of brevity. Please note that the above-mentionedmain frame 110 and the sliding cover 120 combination is for illustrativepurposes only and is not meant to be taken as a limitation of thepresent invention. In practice, any combination and structure of asingle sliding cover or a plurality of sliding covers can be applied tothe displaying apparatus frame of the present invention.

Compared with the prior art, the displaying apparatus frame of thepresent invention has at least a sliding cover itself. When externallight is too intense and induces glare on a display screen of anelectronic apparatus, the sliding cover can be adjusted depending on theuser's desire to block external light from inducing glare on the displayscreen. In other words, the displaying apparatus frame of the presentinvention can avoid glare without adding extra hoods or utilizing costlydisplay technology capable of preventing glare. Moreover, the slidingcover is integrated into the displaying apparatus frame, so the slidingcover can provide users with the function of blocking light anytime andanywhere, which highly increases the convenience in use.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device and method may be made whileretaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the abovedisclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and boundsof the appended claims.

1. A displaying apparatus frame, utilized for covering an exterior of adisplay apparatus, the displaying apparatus frame comprising: a mainframe, having an opening corresponding to a display surface of thedisplay apparatus; and a first sliding cover, connected to the mainframe in a sliding way, and the first sliding cover sliding along adirection that is not parallel to the display surface.
 2. The displayingapparatus frame of claim 1, wherein the first sliding cover slides alonga direction that is perpendicular to the display surface.
 3. Thedisplaying apparatus frame of claim 1, wherein when the first slidingcover is in a first closed position, the first sliding cover iscompletely retracted onto sides of the main frame; and when the firstsliding cover is not in the first closed position, the first slidingcover protrudes over a surface corresponding to the opening on the mainframe.
 4. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 1, wherein the firstsliding cover is positioned outside the main frame.
 5. The displayingapparatus frame of claim 1, wherein the first sliding cover ispositioned inside the main frame.
 6. The displaying apparatus frame ofclaim 1, further comprising: a second sliding cover, connected to thefirst sliding cover in a sliding way, the second sliding cover slidingalong a direction that is not parallel to the display surface.
 7. Thedisplaying apparatus frame of claim 6, wherein the first sliding coverand the second sliding cover slide along a direction that isperpendicular to the display surface.
 8. The displaying apparatus frameof claim 6, wherein when the first sliding cover is in a first closedposition, the first sliding cover is completely retracted onto sides ofthe main frame; when the first sliding cover is not in the first closedposition, the first sliding cover protrudes over a surface correspondingto the opening of the main frame; when the second sliding cover is in asecond closed position, the second sliding cover is completely retractedto a surface of the first sliding cover; and when the second slidingcover is not in the second closed position, the second sliding coverprotrudes over the first sliding cover.
 9. The displaying apparatusframe of claim 8, wherein the first sliding cover is positioned outsidethe main frame.
 10. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 8, whereinthe first sliding cover is positioned inside the main frame.
 11. Thedisplaying apparatus frame of claim 6, wherein at least one of the firstsliding cover and the second sliding cover has a reverse U-shape. 12.The displaying apparatus frame of claim 6, wherein at least one of thefirst sliding cover and the second sliding cover has a rectangularshape.
 13. The displaying apparatus frame of claim 1, wherein the firstsliding cover has a reverse U-shape.
 14. The displaying apparatus frameof claim 1, wherein the first sliding cover has a reverse U-shape. 15.The displaying apparatus frame of claim 1, wherein the displayingapparatus is a display screen of a global positioning system (GPS)navigation device.